Stone and Ice
by ashangel101010
Summary: Conclusion to "It's Not Cheating If She Doesn't Kiss Back" and set during the "Shimmering Shells" episode. Flora and Anagan meet once again, but this time in the darkness between life and death.


Stone and Ice

Suggested Themes:

Main Themes- No One Would Listen from The Phantom of the Opera, Us by Regina Spektor

Darkness, she is surrounded by nothing but eternal darkness at first glance. She remembers being hit by that monster's magic and her body solidifying into a stone statue. Why was she here then? There is so much darkness here…..it seems so lonely here and desolate too. Is this the afterlife? Has being turned to stone killed her? If she is dead, then where are the endless fields of flowers in the afterlife? Where is Nabu? No, she is not dead but perhaps in place where those in magical suspension go. How long will she be here? Could she be here for days or years? How will she be able to tell the difference? She is confident her friends will save her, but will they be able to defeat Tritannus and the Trix without her? Is this a punishment? Is it a punishment for not telling Helia what happened between her and Anagan? But that was ages ago, and she didn't kiss him back. She didn't cheat on Helia with Anagan. She shouldn't still worry about anyone finding out since Anagan is nothing more than a block of ice in the bottom of the Omega-

"Flora, my favorite Nature Fairy, it seems that Nature wants us to cross path again." A chill goes down her spine like the stone spell that went through her body. She knows that voice behind her. She turns around to see a un-icicle Anagan standing before her. He has his arms crossed and he has a rather unpleasant smile on his face. He is about as happy to see her as Flora is about seeing him.

"Anagan, so this is your doing!" Flora tries to conjure up an energy ball in her hands, but it does not appear and she gasps. Anagan rolls his eyes. She can tell already how unpleasant this encounter is going to be.

"Magic doesn't work here. And no, I don't know where we are exactly but I have feeling this is a purgatory. You know a state between life and death. Let me take a guess why you're here. Considering your 'outfit' with the extremely long train and tiny wings, either you were about to marry that feminine Helia or this is some weird Fairy power-up that makes you stronger than your Believix form. You look quite catching, but unfortunately you can't stop evil with just your looks. So you probably got imprisoned" He would have sounded so "charming" if not for the snide undertone in his voice. Apparently, he wasn't in the mood to flirt with Flora anymore.

"I got turned into a statue by mutated sea monster and I am in Harmonix. And my boyfriend is not effeminate and we have not wed yet." Flora clarifies and shows her resolve of not backing down. Either way, Anagan is not impressed or surprised by her actions. She and the Winx Club had put him in this lonely abyss, this dark Hell. He can only be affectionate towards a woman for so long without biting back.

"Oh that makes sense. Well, considering how Nature favors the goody-goodies, you'll probably get released soon by your friends since they're the good gals. Perhaps, the only reason I am able to talk to you, and not to my brothers, is that Nature wants us to settle our differences. I think Nature has a weird fetish for us to be together." Flora frowns at Anagan's "fantastical" theory. Who can blame her? Anagan has caused so much suffering, and on a lesser note, stole a kiss from Flora.

"How can we? You murdered Nabu! You tried to kidnap Roxy like hundred times! You ripped the wings off of thousands of innocent Fairies! You desolated the Earth and bathed it in blood! You nearly killed the plant life there!" Flora is furious. Her cheeks are tinged pink, but not the rosy pink that she normally has when she blushes. Her pink cheeks are like the eyes of an angry unicorn about to impale an evil man. A good choice of action, Ogron would have said, is to calm down and not get angry back. Anagan has never been really good at following Ogron's advice, plus he's not here to enforce it.

"I'm going to correct you now because you have almost all of your facts wrong like you do with dating that guy! Ogron was the one that killed that magician and he had the right to do so! I was not the only one that ripped the wings off those Fairies so remember that, dear. Humans are bellicose and grim by nature, so my brothers and I didn't even cause those wars. The Earth plants have been able to adapt to their hostile, non-magical environment so they are much stronger than they ever could with magic. Now, quid pro quo, do you have a sibling?" Flora has no idea what "quid pro quo" means but she knows that Anagan wants her to answer. Flora briefly thought about lying, but it was not in her nature.

"I have a sister. She is younger than me." Miele is adventurous, determined, and gregarious little girl. In a few years, she will be old enough to apply at Alfea College for Fairies like her older sister did. Miele has dad's hair and mom's eyes, sun-orange hair and lime-green eyes, Flora thought. She misses her little sister and watching her little sister plant roses. Miele loves roses; in fact, most of her classmates call her Rose because of her love of roses.

"How would you feel to find out that your younger sister was killed by someone that promised to help her? Devastated? Hurt? Broken? Mad? I know that Ogron was justified in his action. A life for a life. A love for a love." Flora's anger is mollified. What would she do? A murder hasn't taken place in Linphea in ages, so how is she supposed to respond? By Aisha's account, she might hunger for vengeance at any cost. Yet, Flora values life above all. It would go against all her beliefs and morals to seek the destruction of another person, but this is her sister. She could see herself going mad with grief and maybe acting crazy, but would she kill another person in retaliation especially when said person promised to help her sister? Flora doesn't really know what she would do except cry for a very long time. Anagan and his "brothers" didn't have the time to cry, they had to run so they could live to fight another day. Maybe that's why Anagan proposed this semi-rhetorical question.

"I would cry for the longest time and mourn her. Eventually, I would move on because I didn't die with her. Now and again, I would cherish all the memories we had together and cry even more. If you had the chance, would you have cried for Duman?" Anagan's eyes darken. To Flora, the darkening of eyes usually meant an attack was about to happen. She learned that from various foes but first from the Trix. Yet, Anagan's darken eyes did not signal for an onslaught. His eyes reminded Flora of her dad's whenever he got extremely depressed. Her father would let out a weary sigh, warning Flora of his impending bout of sadness. Anagan's eyes were like darkness in nothingness. Flora almost thought he was going to cry, but he didn't. He just looks very sad and vulnerable.

"…Yes, but I wouldn't be alone. I wouldn't want to be alone." He doesn't want to be alone, without his brothers, like he is now. There is more than one kind of Hell, and Anagan is experiencing the loneliest one of all. Flora is here with him, but Anagan is alone. He will always be alone while being trapped in the ice.

"Do you have any idea how torturous is to be trapped for all eternity in a block of ice?" Anagan asked without a trace of anger or sadness in his voice. Flora doesn't answer for a second because she believes Anagan was asking a rhetorical question and was going to enlighten her about the "torture" he is suffering from.

"No, I have no idea with ice. I am trapped in stone." Anagan's black eyes shimmer like he might tell a joke, but his mouth is still in a sad line.

"I would say that you caught Medusa's gaze, but you have no idea who or what Medusa is. Thank you for reminding me. How did you like the tale I told you where it ended with me getting slapped?" Flora can detect a faint note of happiness in his tone. Flora lets him get away with changing the subject. It is never fun, to Flora, when a man is in the throes of depression.

"It was wonderful even if it was just a myth. So were the Gods and the Goddesses precursors to Earth Fairies? You did mention that they used magic to help the world like Earth Fairies. What happened to them?" Anagan remembers a midsummer's night dream, during the night he spent with her, that he had about Flora if she wasn't so entrenched with the Winx Club. Anagan would have liked to take Flora to Greece. He would have shown her the remnants of great theatres, farms, and altars to the Gods. He would tell her stories of girls being turned into trees, fire being given to man, unrequited love that lead to wars. He would then whisper in her ear of beautiful nymphs that were destroyed by their first loves. Maybe (probably not) Flora would leave Helia and spend the night (most likely a month) with Anagan. She might want to see all of Greece and Anagan would only be happy to oblige. He likes to be romantic and date Nature Fairies like Flora. Yet, it would never and shall never happen. His destiny is as cold as ice of a thousand winters.

"Humans stopped believing in them and began to believe in others…." Namely, God after the Wizards of the Black Circle got "rid" of the Earth Fairies. Anagan just realizes that he has left himself wide open for Flora to lightly chastise him and perhaps guilt him. Anagan won't repent, Flora knows that, and he won't apologize for what he has done.

"I wonder if there was a precursor to you and the rest of the Black Circle. You and your 'brothers' were able to get humans to stop believing in the Earth Fairies." Anagan could have jokingly replied with "Titans" but he doesn't. He doesn't feel like smiling or smirking anymore. He just wants to be serious and beseeching.

"When you get out of here, could you do me a favor, Flora?" His voice is so soft that it was almost inaudible. Flora heard it because he was waiting for Anagan to speak again. Flora doesn't say anything because she senses the sudden change in the atmosphere. It was like the darkness of this place was twisting and interlocking into Anagan's next words.

"Please…..please…..oh, please just….just end it. Please, mercifully end our suffering." Flora's hear shoots into her throat and she almost vomits it out. Anagan is asking her, begging her, to kill him. He didn't exactly say that but he phrased it like that. Flora is horrified and fidgeting. How does one respond to such a request? How does one respond to someone begging for death? Anagan is practically screaming for suicide.

"I….I…..I-I don't…..No, I just can't." Flora covers her mouth to prevent a sob from escaping from her throat. Anagan is downtrodden, defeated, and weary. They don't look at each other for quite a while.

"I guess that was too much to hope for, wasn't it? I do have another request you can help me with. I promise you it has nothing to do with…..that." Flora begins to look into Anagan's eyes again. She almost forgets that seconds ago Anagan was asking her to kill him and his brothers.

"Please, kiss me back. If I'm going to be stuck here for all eternity, I at least want….a kiss." He was going to say something along the lines of "mingling of the flesh" but he knows that Flora may slap him even if she feels sorry for him.

"….Okay." She tensed at the beginning of the long stretch of silence but relaxes in the end. She cannot grant him mercy but she can give him a consolation. No one will know except for them. It's not cheating if she doesn't kiss him, but she will kiss him. She will not kiss him because of some petty insecurity about Krystal and Helia. She will kiss him because she wants to. He draws closer to her, while she drifts towards him. It was like watching two different breezes trying to converge with items that they gathered, like petals and burrs. Anagan is taller than Flora. Flora arches on her toes, while Anagan lowers his head to meet her halfway. Flora closes her eyes, while Anagan keeps his eyes wide open. He can smell her scent, her scent is flowery like all Nature Fairies but there is a dash of pomegranate to it. He has a feeling that Flora may have bought some organic shampoo while on Earth. Her lips were like kissing a rose, soft but protected. There is very little pressure in their kiss. In fact, the pressure is dwindling and Anagan can see why. Flora is fading like some magical illusion, it means that the Winx Club has figure out a way to reverse the spell on Flora's stony incarceration. He was able to get that kiss he sought after.

"I'm going away and I'm never coming back. If it is of any comfort, I am pretty sure you will be freed one day. The Trix were able to get out of the Omega Dimension and they weren't that powerful. I might see you again." Flora is gone now, but a little bit of hope comes alive in Anagan's dark soul. If he gets out of here, he will free his brothers. He will go and try to bring back Duman so they could be all together again. He might even see her again. He might even flirt with her again. He might even kiss her again. Flora might even kiss him back.


End file.
